BY JIM KNIPPENBERG
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Meanwhile, on the party circuit, it was a plenty strange weekend -- full of dogs, flaming art and blimps.
BURN, BABY:
Well sure, there are times when we all do less than our best work. Some people, Psst! for example, publish it. Others, the Art Directors Club, burn it.
As it did Saturday at its sixth annual Burn Your Bad Art Bonfire and Chili Cook-off at Arnold's Printing, near Lunken Airport. This, said event chair Jeff Lovelace, is a "truly primeval celebration . . . a powerful ritual of liberation . . . with all the pomp of an Aztec sacrifice."
Except they use bad art instead of virgins.
The thing is, these people are pros, and what looks like bad art to them looks fine to the rest of us.
Chris Payne, for example. The nationally known illustrator (Time, New York Times, Sports Illustrated) doesn't have a lot of bad art, so when he throws something in, "it breaks everyone's heart," Lovelace said.
Meanwhile, on the chili cook-off circuit, Tony Zimmerman of Arnold's Printing won the People's Choice award. The guy who made the Spam chili, thankfully, did not.
Close to 500 people were there, including one Junior Leaguer who fretted about being underdressed: "Well, what do you wear to a bonfire?"
DOGS, TOO:
Party No. 2 saw the upstairs cabaret at Carol's on Main go to the dogs Friday.
Specifically, it was the book launch party for Jeffrey Marks' Canine Crimes (Ballantine; $5.99), a compilation of short stories by 15 mystery writers, including Marks.
Canine is his third book but the first one he can actually read. Huh?
The first, Scent of Murder, was written with prize money he won for the concept of a book that was never published. His second, a bio of writer Craig Rice, was published in French. Which he doesn't read.
So Canine is dear enough to his heart to invite friends and media to cocktails and a mingle.
And purchases. Seems most everyone bought a copy, then visited Marks' corner booth to get it signed. It's perfect, said one guest who sat in the corner reading one of the stories: "15 reads you can do in dribbles."
The book, by the way, is crime and dogs. In some cases, dogs help solve the crimes, in others they just hang around. Marks has a terrier name of Ellery (who was not invited to the party).
Oh yeah, his next book, another mystery and still another one he'll probably be able to read, is in the hands of his agent.
AIRBORNE:
Don't know about you, but we worry about a blimp floating around with Titanic written on its side. The boat, after all, did go down.
But the Blockbuster blimp didn't. It has been here since Oct. 10, buzzing a Bengals game, Chili Fest and hovering over downtown. And giving free rides. Like Saturday morning, when it took five children from the Make-A-Wish Foundation on an airborne tour. None had specifically wished for a blimp ride, but Wish regional director Tom Tessler figured as long as it's here, why not?
So five children and their parents got 30-minute rides from Lunken Airport to downtown, along the river.
Nikki Losecamp, 10, and brother Eric, 5, both awaiting bone marrow donor matches, made the trek from their home in Mason, then pronounced it cool. "It made my tummy feel funny, but still cool," Nikki said.
Five-year-old Tanner Lowery, 6-year-old Chris Hunter and 8-year-old Shanelle Parnam went up, too, and guess what? They also pronounced it "cool."
The blimp leaves today for Cleveland.
Psst! appears Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. Have an item to report? Call Jim Knippenberg at 768-8513; fax: 768-8330.
KNIPPENBERG ARCHIVE